Research Methods

The Delphi

The Delphi technique was selected as the methodology for this study. The Delphi is a process by which the best answers to a research question are solicited from a group of experts. The results from the Delphi are expert opinion and are as reliable as the pool of experts. While expert opinion can be elicited in other ways, the Delphi technique minimizes the problems with a focus group and provides a good opportunity for the opinions of all experts to be given voice.

Several variations in the implementation of the Delphi exist. For this study, a pool of youth ministry practitioners were asked to provide five to ten responses to the question: What are the most important youth ministry objectives for the church to implement with 15-to-18-year-old youth? All responses were collected and a list of unique responses was developed.

For round two of the Delphi, the unique responses were sent back to all participants to be rated (from 1 to 7). The mean score for each item was calculated and the responses were listed in rank order. The responses with the highest mean scores (96 responses) were sent back to the participants to be rated again. Additional rounds of the Delphi can be used to further refine the list of best responses, but it was determined that, for this study, three rounds would provide an adequate consensus.

The Participants

While 20 experts is considered to be adequate for the Delphi technique, it was determined that a larger number was desirable for this study, since many cultures would be represented. Over one hundred participants were enlisted by the recommendation of youth ministry professors or other participants. Participants were indigenous youth leaders from 27 countries:

  • Africa: South Africa (11), Kenya (6), Zimbabwe (1)
  • Asia: Philippines (11), Singapore (4), Indonesia (1), Malaysia (1)
  • Australia/Oceania: Australia (15)
  • Europe: Romania (9), United Kingdom (3), Croatia (2), Czech Republic (2), Estonia (1), Slovenia (1), Slovakia (1)
  • Latin America: Argentina (2), Ecuador (2), Puerto Rico (2), Chile (1), Costa Rica (1), Cuba (1), Guatemala (1), Honduras (1), Mexico (1), Venezuela (1).
  • North America: United States (16), Canada (4).

Participants were all trained youth leaders with at least three years of experience working with teenagers.

Delimitations

This study was delimited to middle adolescents (those fifteen to eighteen years of age) for two primary reasons. First, churches almost always include middle adolescents as part of the target group for youth ministry. In various cultures churches also may include younger students or older students, but they normally include middle adolescents. Second, middle adolescents are experiencing a number of changes that may require adjustment in the church’s ministry approach with them. For example, middle adolescents are developing the cognitive abilities needed to consider abstract spiritual concepts.

The study was conducted in English. While this limited the youth leaders who could participate, it was deemed preferable to conduct the study in one language rather than deal with translation between numerous cultures. Further study would be needed to determine if this created bias in the study.

Additionally, rural and tribal communities were delimited from the study. Only cultures in which youth ministry is conducted were included in the study. While careful study of youth ministry within individual cultures would certainly be valuable, the objective of this study was to determine objectives of youth ministry that are valued across cultures.